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Post by Commissioner on Mar 26, 2014 16:43:44 GMT -5
Interesting news: University of Massachusetts football and the MAC will part ways after the 2015 season. UMass has played football in the MAC the last 2 seasons, since moving up from I-AA (FCS) to D-I (FBS), while remaining in the A-10 for other sports.
The MAC apparently gave UMass a choice of joining for all sports or leaving, and UMass chose the latter. At a time of a lot of upheaval, the MAC has been a very stable conference - indeed, it has been remarkably stable for decades. I think they figured it was a good time to force the issue. They would undoubtedly like a full commitment, especially for basketball, and saw little more to gain from serving as Massachusetts' football way station until the Minutemen got some other offer. Losing UMass for football leaves them at 12 teams, a better number than 13 anyway.
For its part, Massachusetts says it is committed to D-I football. They must be reasonably confident that the AAC will come knocking. That conference had 10 teams in the fall, but will lose Louisville and Rutgers next year. However, they gain Tulsa, Tulane, and East Carolina this year and Navy in 2015, taking them up to 12 for football. Conference USA may also be a possibility - it had 14 teams last year, loses Tulane, Tulsa, and East Carolina, but gains Western Kentucky, to be at 12. I'm not sure that either the AAC or CUSA would offer UMass right away, but hey, UMass has 2 more years. They'd be especially attractive to the AAC if that conference loses UConn or Cincinnati.
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Post by motorcitysam on Mar 27, 2014 15:16:33 GMT -5
The MAC is in a good place. Good for them to not have to cater to a particular program
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